Wrong Place

Safety Is Fleeting

Carefully making my way down the stairs, I stepped onto the cracked side walk and joined the mass of students funneling towards the double glass doors at the front of the school. For the first time in hours I began to let my body relax as I stepped inside and headed for my locker. The relaxation didn't last long. As I rounded the corner to the main hall way, I spotted the guy from the hotel room, Don, leaning against one of the pillars on either side of the main office doors. Trying to act casual about it, I slowly turned around and tried desperately not to draw attention to myself. Unfortunately, luck was just not on my side that day.

"Hey, geek." The only person I hated more than my foster mom materialized out of the crowd in front of me. Refusing to answer to the taunt I tried to keep walking but two others blocked my way.

"Maryanne." I said through gritted teeth "What a surprise, I thought you got suspended last week." People around us were backing up, knowing form experience that things were about to get ugly.

"My dad convinced the board to reconsider." Maryanne replied smugly "But I still have to write lines for Miss Eberle after class, thanks to you." Her expression twisted into an ugly smile "And for that, I think I'll take whatever money your foster home could scrounge up for your lunch."

I put my hand protectively over the side pocket of my bag "If you want it, you're going to have to fight me for it." She and her ugly friends smiled.

"Why don't you just hand it over before you have to get hurt." Maryanne laughed, clearly not taking my threat seriously.

"We'll see who's laughing when I kick your ass again" I retorted fiercely "At least this time you were smart enough to bring two of your lackeys to help."

Maryanne stopped laughing "Grab her girls."

The first one tried to grab my left arm but I swung away before she could touch me and gave her a swift kick to the knee cap. This sent me slightly off balance however, and the second girl managed to grab hold of my right arm. She twisted it savagely backwards while the first one stumbled forward and latched on to my other arm.

Maryanne started forwards with a vicious glint in her eye. "You're going to regret having such a smart mouth." She made to punch me but before she could bring her fist down I delivered a powerful kick to her chest that sent her tumbling to the ground. My legs still free, I stomped on the foot of the first lackey and used her own momentum as she teetered off balance to swing her around my front and slam her into the second lackey. They both hit the ground in a daze and lay there groaning for several seconds. And now was the time to leave. Before I could make my escape, however, a hand grabbed my arm from behind.

"Miss Spizer." The voice of the security guard sounded pleasant but exasperated. "You know the drill." I did know the drill. Sighing, I raised my arms so he could pat me down in search of weapons he knew weren't there and then allowed him to escort me to the office. We passed Don on the way but the rush of students prevented him from getting close to us in time.

The principal let out a tired sigh when he saw me "Miss Spizer. What was it this time?"

"Maryanne tried to steal my lunch money again." I replied.

"Very well." He didn't even look up from his computer "The usual time and place then. Don't be late." He handed the security guard a red slip from a drawer. It had my name prefilled in with 'too many to count' as the reason for referral. I quickly turned away from his desk and gave the security guard an eye roll before exiting the office. I was so preoccupied with my tenth detention this semester that I failed to notice Don waiting to ambush me outside the glass doors. The instant I stepped foot into the hallway he blacked my path.